


A crack in the clouds reveals blue skies

by AutisticWriter



Series: Cuddles [16]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Grief/Mourning, Holding Hands, Hugs, Kissing, Mentions of Other Voltron Paladins, Minor Hunk/Lance (Voltron), One Shot, Prompt Fill, Rain, Rainbows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-28 21:00:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13279794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutisticWriter/pseuds/AutisticWriter
Summary: “It’s raining againA crack in the clouds reveals blue skiesI’ve been feeling so low (low)But now everything is on my side.”— ‘The Sun And The Rain’ by MadnessAllura gets a bit upset when a beautiful planet reminds her of Altea, and Shay has to console her. And then they both experience rain for the first time.Cuddle Number 16: With rain outside





	A crack in the clouds reveals blue skies

Holding Shay’s hand as she walks through the beautiful countryside, Allura finds her surroundings reminding her almost painfully of Altea. The vibrant green plants and the cloudless sky and the flowers in every shade of red imaginable… it just looks like Altea. Except this planet is millions of miles from where Altea used to be (because, of course, Altea no longer exists).

She sighs, and Shay looks at her. She must look as melancholy as she feels, because Shay realises that something isn’t right.

“Allura?” she asks. “What is wrong?”

“Nothing, really,” Allura says, but her weary tone fools neither of them. “I just… well, this planet is reminding me of Altea.”

“She’s feeling homesick,” Hunk says, walking past them with a bright blue flower in his hand (he’s probably going to give it to Lance). “I feel like that too sometimes.”

“I understand,” Shay says. She squeezes Allura’s hand. “After spending my entire life there, it was rather upsetting to leave the Balmera. But I can’t imagine how it must feel for your planet to be gone forever.”

Allura smiles weakly, pleased her girlfriend is trying to reassure her, but Shay’s words hit hard. It just hurts so much to admit that her home is gone.

Hunk smiles and puts a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t think so,” Allura says. “But thank you.”

“All right,” Hunk says, smiling. “See you later.”

And he runs off to catch up with Lance. Just as Allura thought, he immediately hands the blue flower to Lance. And Lance gives him a kiss.

Allura tries to ignore her pointless emotions and just focus on her surroundings. After all, there was no need to land on this planet (no missions against the Galra or civilisations that need rescuing); they just landed here for a bit of a vacation, because it is so beautiful. Forcing herself to smile, Allura focuses on the things about this place that don’t remind her of Altea: the most obvious one is the colour of the sunlight. On Altea (and Earth, she learned from Pidge) the sun burned a bright yellow-orange; but here, the sun is more gentle (Coran said that you can look it for up to thirty ticks before it starts to damage your eyesight), and glows a soft shade of green. In fact, that might be why this place is so bright and green.

“Are you really all right now, or are you just pretending?” Shay says suddenly, almost making her jump.

Allura looks straight ahead, watching her fellow Paladins in the middle distance (Lance and Hunk hold hands, the flower tucked behind Lance’s ear; Pidge and Keith are throwing a ball back and forth; and Shiro is lying down on the grass, clearly trying to fall asleep). And then she sighs and looks at her girlfriend.

“Not really,” she says. “It is rather difficult to ignore emotions, especially ones as strong as sadness.”

Shay sighs. “I understand. I know I can’t change your memories of Altea, but… I can help you feel less sad. Can’t I?”

Allura looks up at her; concern seems to twinkle in her dark eyes. Shay takes her other hand so they face each other, staring into Allura’s eyes.

“Well, I think a hug would help,” she says softly. Her mouth twitches into a small smile.

Shay looks at her, and then slowly wraps her arms around her. Allura leans against her face, and she feels so safe in her girlfriend’s arms.

“Thank you,” she whispers.

\---

Not that long later, the planet manages to stop Allura associating it with Altea. Because something happens that never, ever happened on Altea. Rather suddenly, the sky becomes covered with clouds, blocking out the green sunlight and making everything look rather dull. The clouds are dark grey, and look rather sinister.

Hunk and Lance look at each other.

“Is it…?”

“Could it be…?”

“It’s gonna rain!” Pidge cries, delighted.

“Rain?” Allura says.

“Like on Earth,” Hunk says. “Water falls from the clouds. It’s pretty awesome.”

“And a nuisance,” Keith says, but he doesn’t sound serious.

“Really?” Shay says, smiling.

Coran nods, smiling too. “Yes, I believe so.”

“Brace yourselves,” Shiro says. “It looks like some of you are going to experience rain for the first time.”

Allura smiles, so taken in by all of this that her sadness over the loss of Altea seems to dissolve away. She glances at Shay, and her girlfriend looks so beautiful in anticipation that she just has to give her a kiss.

When the first raindrop falls, it hits Coran on the forehead and trickles down his face. He flinches slightly, clearly confused. Allura giggles, just bemused by the entire thing. And then the rain really starts to fall, and she gets hit by many raindrops at once. It doesn’t hurt, but it is incredibly weird to be hit by tiny drops of rain, and it is so strange that she just starts laughing.

The rain seems to turn the air misty, making their dull surroundings appear foggy. The fine raindrops make her hair damp with water droplets, whilst the grass sparkles like it’s covered in dew. It is strangely beautiful, a sentiment clearly shared by the human Paladins, who rush around excitedly, cheering and yelling about rain with their arms extended up to the sky.

“This is so strange,” Shay says, studying the falling rain with a quizzical look. Allura holds her hand.

But then the rain turns into a downpour, the rain coming down so hard that everything gets soaked in seconds, and she suddenly understands everything her human friends ever told her about rain. Her hair sticks flat to her head, and her soaked clothes cling to her skin. Everyone else looks like they were just dragged out of water, and she must to do. But even when she starts to shiver, Allura doesn’t care. She still loves the rain. It is amazing.

The rain gets heavier and heavier, and the ground is sodden and she can barely see three feet in front of her, and the cold rain is making her hands go numb even though it isn’t very cold, and Allura is probably the only person still enjoying this.

So it doesn’t surprise her when Coran, his hair stuck to his head, yells, “I think we should go back inside the ship!”

And despite wanting to stand out in the wonderful rain forever, Allura follows after the others in a frantic rush back to the dry and secure Castle ship.

\---

Once she has changed into dry clothes, Allura takes a place at one of the large windows, and proceeds to watch the rain fall from inside the ship. She wanted to stay outside, but Coran feared she might get hypothermia if she stayed out there any longer. And Allura sees his point.

At one point, Shay joins her by the window. She sits beside Allura, and just sits in silence, also appreciating the strangely beautiful sight of rain falling from the clouds. Without saying anything, Allura reaches for Shay’s hand. Shay gives her hand a squeeze.

“Thank you,” Allura says eventually, when the rain has gone back to how it was at first; a light cover of small raindrops that makes the air misty.

“What for?” Shay says.

“For helping earlier. When I was… thinking about Altea. I really appreciate it.”

Shay smiles and puts her arm around her. “It’s not a problem.”

Outside, a small gap appears in the clouds, revealing a small bit of the bright blue sky between the grey clouds.

“No, really. Thank you.”

Shay sighs, but her smile is fond. “You are welcome.”

And then the greenish sunlight shines through the gap in the clouds, casting light through the raindrops still falling from the sky. And in a simple process of light refraction, Allura gets to see one of the most beautiful things she has ever seen: a rainbow.

And, amazed by the beautiful sight and so grateful to be spending this moment with her beautiful, caring girlfriend, Allura kisses Shay as the rainbow sparkles in the sky.


End file.
